Kolkata Mayor's Niece Has A Meltdown On Twitter After Allegations Of Traffic Violation

Kolkata Mayor Sovon Chatterjee's niece Debapriya Chatterjee tweeted out her anger after strangers on the social media site began criticizing her for allegedly disregarding traffic rules, hitting a pedestrian and abusing a cop.

After the Kolkata police filed a complaint against Chatterjee and four of her friends for the violations, the 26-year-old has in turn registered an FIR against the police complaining of harassment.

While West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday described the group that was pulled up late on Friday night as "small girls" (there were three women and two men in the car), Chatterjee ranted against users who tweeted to her saying that she used her influential position to wiggle out of a tight spot.

"There was an incident involving small girls in Kolkata. But does that mean police will take away their (driving) license!" a report in the Hindustan Times newspaper quoted Banerjee as saying at the state assembly.

"I am not intervening in the matter. The police is investigating the matter. But personally, I think everybody needs counselling," she clarified. Sovon Chatterjee, who is said to be close to Banerjee, said the law will take its own course.

According to this Times of India report, Chatterjee and her four friends were on their way to Chetla in a Tata Nano car at 10 pm when they allegedly hit a pedestrian near the Rashbehari crossing. The report quoted police sources as saying that "she became violent" when a traffic officer told occupants of the car that he would pursue a traffic violation case.

"She said she was the niece of the mayor and demanded to know my name. She even snatched my official pocket-book, whose ownership is with the government. She used foul language against me," the officer quoted in the TOI story said. But she was allowed to leave by the cops.

But as luck would have it, Chatterjee got into a second accident again around midnight and this time the police took them to the police station and booked them.

Chatterjee also lodged a diary against the officials for allegedly "misbehaving with her and abusing her", reported The Indian Express.

Far from keeping a low profile, Chatterjee on Wednesday called an user "ignorant" and "foolish" and was defiant when someone asked her not to "drop her uncle's name".

@RishMCFC@TimesNow my dear ignorant person, she didnt say it was my fault. She said the cop is corrupt.

Meanwhile, CPI-M leader Sujan Chakravarty criticised the CM and accused her of "destroying the morale of the police".

"If the mayor's niece has done something illegal, it is natural that the police would take action. The chief minister clearly expressed her disapproval at the appropriate actions of the police. The chief minister, who is also the police minister, is destroying the morale of the police," the HT report quoted him as saying.